India vs England: 'He'll be desperate to make his own point', Knight expects Kohli to come back stronger
Former England batsman Nick Knight is confident that Virat Kohli will be highly motivated to set the record straight.
Former England batsman Nick Knight believes Virat Kohli will have a point to prove as he returns to lead India in the Test series against England starting February 5 in Chennai. Kohli, who went without scoring a century in the year 2020, first time it has happened in 12 years, last captained India during the Adelaide Test which the team lost by eight wickets before heading back home for the birth of his first child.
Filling in for him, Ajinkya Rahane did a fantastic job and led India to arguably their greatest Test series win of all time, by winning the second Test in Melbourne, producing an epic draw in Sydney and lastly, handing Australia their first defeat at the Gabba since 1988 and capping off a memorable Border-Gavaskar trophy for India.
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There has been plenty of noise surrounding Kohli's captaincy, with some believing Rahane should be appointed the full-time skipper of the Test team, which is why Knight is confident that Kohli will be highly motivated to set the record straight.
"Virat Kohli coming back into the side, and a change of captaincy. I think what he's done for the side has been immense... the fighting spirit, the character that's been brought into the team unit. But he'll come back and he'll be desperate to make his own point with the bat and the captaincy as well," Knight told senior cricket journalists Jamie Alter and Meha Bhardwaj Alter on their YouTube channel 'Cricket Fables'.
Even though India start favourites, chances of England winning another Test series in India cannot be ruled out. They are terrific travellers and having come off a successful 2-0 Test series win over Sri Lanka on their soil, coupling the fact that some of their players are in fine form, there is no reason why England cannot repeat their heroics of 2012. Knight pointed out how it will be important for India to get over the euphoria of the Gabba Test as early as possible.
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"After such an amazing high... and I saw all that reaction, I turned on the TV and saw the reception, homecoming, open-top buses, fans and crowds out there and rightly so. Rewarding and clapping for all the players as they came back. But a week later, you get your head down, you're in quarantine at the moment, you've got 2-3 days of practice," Knight explained.
"That day in Chennai, if you're not quite on it and your mind isn't quite there and if you're still thinking about the open-top bus, and that brilliant last day at the Gabba, England are a good side and they are going to get ahead of the game. So i think that's the challenge for India. If they're even slightly reliving what happened a week or two ago, on that first day in Chennai, [it's] England's best chance."
